TIM BERNE'S BLOODCOUNT – Memory Select - The Paris Concert Vol.3 (1995)

Label: JMT Productions – JMT 514 029-2
Format: CD, Album, Country: Germany - Released: 1995
Jazz Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded live on 22-25 September 1994 at Instants Chavirés, Montreuil, Paris, France.
Cover Design and Artwork – by Sebastian Byram
Engineer [Mastering] – Carlos Albrecht
Engineer [Recording] – Joe Ferla
Executive-Producer – Hiroshi Itsuno
Producer – Stefan F. Winter
Photography – Susanna Schoenberg

Tim Berne's Bloodcount:
MARC DUCRET (electric guitar); CHRIS SPEED (clarinet, tenor saxophone); TIM BERNE (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); MICHAEL FORMANEK (double bass); JIM BLACK (drums)

Memory Select, the final release in the three-CD live series recorded by Tim Berne's Bloodcount at Instants Chavirés in Paris during September of 1994, begins in low-key fashion, with Chris Speed playing mournfully on his solitary clarinet before he is joined by Marc Ducret's skittering runs and begins to transfer some of the guitarist's energy into his own playing. The full-ensemble scored passages that follow in the 18-minute "Jazzoff" are akin to similarly subdued, chamberesque portions of compositions on the first two discs, Lowlife and Poisoned Minds, while Berne's buzzing multiphonics during the improvised segments place the saxophonist's fascination with sometimes abrasive textures on full display. Speed's clarinet, Berne's baritone sax, and Michael Formanek's arco bass draw long lines through a sometimes dark and melancholy sonic landscape punctuated by Jim Black's inventive, though comparatively laid-back, percussion. As suggested by the title, this is Berne at his least jazzy - - although there is plenty of room for skronky improvisation during the midsection of "Jazzoff." This is one of Berne's best pieces for sustaining a consistent mood, even if that mood might lead listeners expecting some upbeat music to reach for a bottle of Prozac. And like his most enduring extended-form music, it avoids the jarring cut-and-paste juxtapositions of lesser composers, while still taking listeners on a wide-ranging ride. "Jazzoff" is followed by the grand opus of the entire three-CD series, the 51-plus minute "Eye Contact." Here, Berne leads the band's slow buildup of energy with a stunning, soulful alto solo before bringing the dynamic back down to quiet, chamber music levels. A short burst of almost sprightly full-band harmony and counterpoint signals approaching showcases for Speed's wild and wailing clarinet and Formanek's soloing prowess; more tricky and complex charts then lead to a funked-up jam supporting a crazed, noisy guitar solo from Ducret. For sheer energy alone, this would be an apt conclusion to "Eye Contact," but there is much more to come. The track ends with Berne soloing over a dramatic buildup from the full band, unleashing torrents of notes and blistering multiphonics from his horn before joining a powerful unison melody line executed by Ducret's guitar and Speed's tenor, with Black and Formanek thundering in free jazz abandon below. It is such a grand gesture that it serves not only as a coda to "Eye Contact," but to the entire three-disc Instants Chavirés series. As Berne and Speed let their last sustained note slide into silence, Memory Select takes its place as a fitting climax to the three CDs, standing strongly on its own but also feeling, appropriately, like the series' grand finale. Any listeners interested in Berne's growth as a player, composer, and bandleader should pick this up if they can find it; better still to find all three of the JMT Bloodcount CDs to place Memory Select in proper perspective. While the Bloodcount Instants Chavirés discs are unfortunately out of print, Winter & Winter is planning to reissue all three, and Memory Select is tentatively scheduled to be available in November 2005. Meanwhile, a phenomenal big-band arrangement of "Eye Contact" by Berne and the Copenhagen Art Ensemble (also featuring Ducret and trumpeter Herb Robert) can be heard on the two-CD set Open, Coma, released by Berne's Screwgun label in December 2001.

_ By DAVE LYNCH



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TIM BERNE'S BLOODCOUNT – Poisoned Minds - The Paris Concert Vol. 2 (1995)

Label: JMT Productions – JMT 514 020-2
Format: CD, Album; Country: Germany - Released: 1995
Jazz Style: Free Jazz, Free Improvisation
Recorded live on 22-25 September 1994 at Instants Chavirés, Montreuil, Paris, France.
Cover Design and Artwork – by Sebastian Byram
Engineer – Carlos Albrecht
Executive-Producer – Hiroshi Itsuno
Producer – Stefan F. Winter
Photography – Robert Lewis

Tim Berne's Bloodcount:
MARC DUCRET (electric guitar); CHRIS SPEED (clarinet, tenor saxophone); TIM BERNE (alto saxophone, baritone saxophone); MICHAEL FORMANEK (double bass); JIM BLACK (drums)

Tim Berne continued Bloodcount's forays into extended-form creative jazz with Poisoned Minds, the second installment of the band's live CD series recorded at Instants Chavirés in Paris during September of 1994. There are only two pieces on the disc, "The Other" at 27 and a half minutes and "What Are the Odds?" at 41 and a half minutes; with running times like those, Berne was clearly not aiming for significant airplay on commercial radio. Instead, Poisoned Minds is for serious listeners without attenuated attention spans, a somewhat radical concept in itself. Yet aside from the lengths of the pieces, many elements of the music are not particularly radical despite Berne's avant-garde rep -- melody, rhythm, and theme are all important to the saxophonist, and the innovation comes from the way he manipulates structure, fitting the pieces of the puzzle together in unpredictable ways. "The Other" begins with Berne on alto and Chris Speed on clarinet, stating a bluesy, soulful, and somewhat melancholy theme in rubato time; drummer Jim Black uses this opportunity to color the music with textural embellishments rather than drive it forward. Urgent propulsion is dominant in the piece's middle section, where tension is stretched to the breaking point as Black and bassist Michael Formanek jam out with a twisted rhythm and Berne and Speed, scarcely taking time to inhale, throw long purple-faced lines over the top. And yet "The Other" perhaps finds its greatest power in an uneasy conclusion that combines elements of free jazz and chamber music, subverting any expectations of a slam-bang finale. Berne starts "What Are the Odds?" on alto accompanied only by Black, and he's not in the mood for rumination at this point, possessed instead by uptempo, boppish energy. As his sax lines leap and twist, bits of a Berne-ish melody become discernible, and suddenly the whole band is off to the races together on a highly charged theme that catapults forward even through abrupt, oddly timed stops and starts. Then Speed bursts through with a hot tenor solo over churning, chunky, and propulsive accompaniment from Black, Formanek, and guitarist Marc Ducret. The groove pulls completely apart in a cacophonous outburst from all the bandmembers, but Berne and Speed somehow find their way back to the theme and then drag the rhythm section back in line with them. An abrupt downward shift in dynamics leads to a beautifully subdued ensemble passage, and then Formanek is soon displaying his solo chops. From here on, unpredictability comes not in the piece's linear form -- which is in fact leading to a slam-bang finish -- but rather in the way Berne uses intra-band tension. In three separate waves, solo or group episodes informed by free improvisation are pitted against steadily rising backdrops of funky, twisted riffs that only Berne could write. Rhythmically off-kilter and yet with grooves that Black can drive a truck through, Berne's engaging riffs ultimately win the struggle, with so much energy expended that the listener is left -- happily -- exhausted.

_ By DAVE LYNCH



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